Old Fashioned No Pectin Strawberry Jam

25 pounds of strawberries later, I'm getting creative.

I went to two different stores to look for Low Sugar Sure-Jel and they didn't carry it.

That's about as far as I'll go for pectin.  The next step was to Google "No Pectin strawberry jam."

There are QUITE a few recipes out there, of course, that could be because our grandmas and great grandmas probably didn't have the luxury of buying pectin.

I'm not sure that my grandmother ever canned jam, or anything else for that matter. I just don't know.

I do know that my one grandmother had blackberry patches so she MAY have made jam.  I only got to see her once a year, but that's for a very good reason, she lived in Holland and I lived in the U.S.

I have a great memory of being very young and picking berries across from her house.

Over the years the bushes were removed.

I like to think that this happy memory has moved me to have my own raspberry bushes.  We moved last August from about a one acre property FULL of wild black raspberry and red raspberry (wine berry) bushes.  I transplanted about 18 bushes to my new house.

I'm a die hard fan.

My boys are big fans of strawberry jam.

I've made it for several years in a row and missed last year because we were prepping the house for a move and didn't get a chance to go strawberry picking.

We solved that problem this year.

The nice thing about this jam is that is SO incredibly easy to make.

Wash and hull the strawberries.

Put in a pot and add sugar.

Stir, cook on low, stir, cook, stir, mash.

I like to freeze my jam so I don't bother with canning it.

There is plethora of sites that explain how to can it.

Happy googling!

Simple Strawberry Jam

8 cups of local strawberries
3-3 1/2 cups of organic sugar
4 pint jars and lids

Clean and hull the strawberries. I left them whole and mashed them. You can also puree them in a food processor.
Add sugar.
Cook on low up to 2 hours till thickened a bit.
Stir and mash as needed.
Cool and pour into sterilized jars and top with sterilized lids. Freeze when completely cooled. Or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. (Ours never last that long!)

Tips: leave the whites on the strawberry tushes. It helps thicken the jam with natural pectin.
This jam will be thinner than store bought and will noticeably thicken when refrigerated.
I like to use Trader Joe's (for us Americans) jam  and organic mayo jars. The lids from the their mayonnaise are great lids for using in the freezer. Usually they are gold or royal blue. I run them through the dishwasher and save them. They fit on all regular canning jars. I also use them for my lacto-fermented salsa. It's a great way to recycle but you can't use them for water bath canning because they can break. (Yes, I speak from experience!)

Enjoy!

The Lunch Lady